Freshman Fears
by Hikari Takaishi
Summary: It's only a horror fic if you are entering high school for the first year. (This story has a strong American vibe, so don't chew me out about it not being Japan-culture-related.) It's mean for complete humor and it's dedicated to those who are entering th


Freshman Fears ****

Warning: This is mainly a story of freshmen rebellion concerning the crazy things that happen to freshmen on their first day of school. I've taken the time to write this simply because I am going to be a freshmen and well, I've heard that some crazy things go on. This really isn't supposed to be looked at seriously… so… enjoy.

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Freshman Fears

"Sweetheart, it's time to wake up!"

Caramel eyes blinked themselves open and tired hands reached up to rub them. Soon, a brunette young girl emerged from the blankets and sheets and slid off of the bed. She smiled brightly and glanced at the clock; it was six thirty in the morning, a mere two hours away from beginning her first day of school as a freshman.

"Hikari! Come on," an older brunette boy grumbled while walking past the bedroom door. "Take forever in the shower so I can be late."

She giggled, "You come on, Taichi. It's the first day of school! This'll be fun!"

"Uh," he glanced at his younger sister and shook his head, "whatever."

"Honey, it's your first day of school. You don't want to be late."

The blond Takaishi boy pulled down his blanket enough for his blue eyes to peer at his mother. "Mom, I think I feel sick."

"Takeru," she warned and sat on the edge of his bed, her hands grabbing onto his cheeks. "Being a freshman isn't all that bad…"

"You're just saying that," he muttered and pulled the covers over his head.

Ms. Takaishi pulled them back down. "Come now…" she warned again in a stronger tone, "you have your friends. Daisuke will be there --"

"Oh yay," he gave her a look.

"And you'll be attending the same school as Yamato and Taichi… and Koushiro --"

"I guess that is okay."

"And Sora…" She smiled, "And that little girl Hikari."

"Hey, that's right!" Takeru smirked and sat up. "High school won't be so bad after all!"

"See? I --"

"Hikari will be there!"

He gave a thanks to his mother and dashed out of the room in a hurry.

"Daisuke! Daisuke! Get out now! You've been in there forever!"

Jun Motomiya pounded fiercely against the bathroom door, clothes and towel in hand. Before she could knock or yell again, the door swung open and revealed her younger, saucier brother Daisuke. The steam from the bathroom swerved around the fresh air and she looked at the other being as if he were nuts. 

"And I said walk this way," sang Daisuke to his bottle of hair gel. His free hand grabbed onto his towel which was wrapped around his waist and he walked out saying, "Talk this wa-ay!" 

"It's about time!" Jun rolled her eyes.

"Hey big sis'," he smirked and patted his sister's cheek, "what's shakin'?"

"If you think that talk will get you a spot in high school," Jun warned, "you're even more pathetic than I imagined."

"What?" Daisuke froze, and turned towards the bathroom. "Then what kind of talk do people like? What do they use? Why can't I say that? Why won't they like it? Why doesn't it--" He didn't finish the question because his sister rudely slammed the door in his face.

Daisuke glanced at his hair gel and blinked, "So… what do I say to all the teachers? Do I talk to them? Or am I supposed to wait until they ask me a question first? Why…" his voice trailed off as he walked into his room to finish preparing for his first day.

"Ready for your first day of high school?" Taichi asked when he was eating breakfast with Hikari.

She nodded excitedly. "Very much so. I organized my binder and I have decorations for my locker and…"

"Do you have an extra pair of shoes?" he asked without looking up.

"What?"

"Do you have an extra pair of shoes?" he repeated.

Answered the girl, "Well, yeah… but why?"

"Bring them and you'll see."

"Taichi? Why do I have to bring extra shoes?"

"Oh, and I hope you won't be wearing overalls any time this week." He began to gulp down his milk. When he finished, he said, "You'll regret it or you'll thank me later."

"But --"

"And don't wear anything white."

She looked down at her khaki colored skirt and her pink blouse.

Before she could ask, he shook his head. "You'll regret it, Hikari."

Her eyes trailed from her cereal bowl to her shoes, then up to her skirt and blouse, then to her shoulder-length hair.

"And it's best if you wear your hair down. Easier to get the mess out."

"But…" Her eyes grew wide and full of worry as her fingers ran through her beautiful brown hair. "Taichi… why?"

"There's new freshmen," he replied, "and you're one of 'em."

Takeru stood in front of the mirror and ran his fingers through the mess of gel on his head. Dressed in blue jeans and a dark blue, Hawaiian flower patterned over shirt and a white tank top underneath, he turned on his heels to check himself in the full length mirror across the room. Smirking with satisfaction, he strolled over to the ringing telephone and picked it up on the second ring.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Ready to be a freshman?" Yamato's voice came across the line.

"Heck yeah," the younger one burst out, "it's like starting all over again. Which is good. And Hikari's going to be there."

"Are you wearing a watch or a ring or anything?" his brother asked.

Takeru fingered the small medallion that hung around his neck. "The necklace that Mom gave me."

"It'd be best not to wear it." Yamato then added, "And never leave your locker open. Got it?"

"Yeah, okay. Why?"

"You're a freshman."

"Yeah…" Takeru scratched the back of his neck, "Your point being…?"

"So don't leave your locker open for a long time. Know what you have to get or put away and do it." The Ishida gave a chuckle, "I can't be there to save your sorry ass in the end. You're a freshman."

"So?" 

"Just chill out, don't trust anyone unless they're a freshman, and I'll introduce you around once the first week of school is over."

"Why not today?"

Yamato paused. He then answered, "You'll see. And don't sit in the table labeled "Freshmen", okay? Sit at the one to the left. 'Cause when the junk falls, it usually falls to the right. You'll be safest to the left."

"Uh, o-okay." Takeru said good-bye to his brother and stared blankly at the telephone, wondering if high school was worth all these warnings.

Daisuke sat puzzled in the family room with his school bag at his feet. His eyes were focused on the blank TV set and he had the most amusing look across his face. 

_Don't buy the lunch at school?_ He pondered. His sister just got done telling him warnings of the first day. _Don't sit in front of the classroom, or the back… the safest place to be is in the middle. Get lockers that are close to your friends. And never turn your back on anyone older than you. Remember this and you'll thank me later._

"M-mom?" he gulped, "I don't feel so well."

His mother appeared from the kitchen and handed him his lunch bag. "Now honey, those are only stories that kids tell you to get you all paranoid and frightened so they can scare you easier. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Yeah right!" he whimpered, "Mom, don't use the phone."

"Why, sweetie?"

"Because if push comes to shove, I'll be calling for you to pick me up." He shook his head and adjusted the goggles on his head. Though his sister had warned him of those, too, he figured it could come in handy. She _did_ say something about hair dye and toilet paper. 

"Man, how do they do all that? We only have ten minutes of passing time between each class…" Daisuke muttered to himself and swung his backpack around one shoulder. He pocketed his apartment key and turned to leave.

"Oh, honey?" Mrs. Motomiya inched toward her son.

"Yeah, Mom?"

She reached into her son's pocket and retrieved the key. "Maybe it's best if… I hang onto this. Um, you don't know what can happen."

"…Riiight. I'll be _fine_ she says!" he began while walking out the door, "I'll have _fun_ she says! Then why do you take the key away if it's all just stories?!"

"Mama," Hikari looked up at her parents with her big brown eyes. "How was your freshman year?"

"Oh, it was great, honey!" her mother answered.

"It was horrible!" her father said. He soon received a quick jab to the gut.

Hikari didn't have time to reply, not that she could with her jaw hanging half open. Instead, she ran to the door and jerked it open, her eyes falling upon the well-dressed Takeru and the slightly nervous Daisuke. She herself was a little pale in the cheeks.

"You got warned, too?" they all asked each other at the same time. They also heard Taichi start laughing his head off.

Hikari lifted her backpack to her shoulders and quietly murmured, "Let's just go."

"Hey! You kids…" the older Yagami mentioned on their way out. "Don't ever… _ever_ try to talk to one of us," he said, meaning their older siblings, "or we'll have to join in with the torture. And we know were you live."

The young girl rolled her eyes and she and her friends quickly made their way out of the apartment building. It was early in the morning, near eight, and they still had to figure out where their classes would be. There was a nice cool breeze that swept through the streets, but it wasn't comforting for the high strung threesome who were still jumpy when cars drove by.

Within twenty minutes, they arrived at the front steps of their new high school. Students flooded the hallways and the fields around them. Buses and other sources of transportation were pulling up to the curbs and into the parking lot to allow students to get onto the school grounds. The building was rather large and the three newcomers gawked slightly at its appearance. 

While staring at the building, Daisuke jerked forward and quickly turned around giving a sharp, "Hey! Watch it!"

The other two turned around as well and glanced up at the tall teenage boy. "Watch it?" he repeated. "What are you? Freshmen?"

One by one, they quickly turned away and started to walk up the steps of the school. Except… for Daisuke. The older high school student's hand fell onto his shoulder to keep him back.

"Turning your back on me, Freshman?" he questioned, his eyes showing a bit of humor.

"Uh, no-no…"

"Are you lyin' to me, Freshman?"

"No-no!" Daisuke gulped.

"What's your name, Freshman?"

"Dai-Dai-Dai… Dai…" he stuttered.

The other chuckled and gently slapped the boy's cheek. "See you around, Freshman."

Hikari and Takeru immediately parted to allow the older person through the doors and they turned to look at their other friend in time to see him fall backwards in a faint.

"So, my first class is History," Takeru said when they were back on track and walking through the halls. "Where's that?"

"I don't know," Hikari said, "I'm new here, too." She stopped in the hallway, looking behind her and sighing. "I wish Taichi would show us around."

"Or Yamato," Takeru glanced down the corridors. 

"Even Jun would work," the other pitched in. "Come on, you guys… Let's just find our lockers."

Sighing in unison, the trio of freshmen began to read the locker numbers. Theirs were in the seven hundreds. Now they were in the one hundreds. Walking further began to narrow it down and soon, they arrived at lockers number five hundred and twenty-six, seven, and nine.

Daisuke walked to the farthest one and glanced at the empty locker between him and his friends. "I wonder who has that one?"

As if on cue, an older teenage girl strolled up to the locker and spun the lock to the corresponding combination. Opening it, she began to unload her bag into her area. Daisuke opened his locker as well and constantly glanced at the woman. Well, to Daisuke, she was a woman… along with every other girl in high school. 

"Hi-hi, Miss," he tried to play a cool act as he pulled his bag off his shoulders.

She straightened her back and glanced behind her.

"Uh," he cleared his throat, "this way."

Her eyes fell upon the shorter boy. "What do you want? Are you a freshman?"

"Uh," Daisuke glanced at his two friends. They began shaking their heads fiercely. The older being followed his glance and saw Takeru slowly inch in front of Hikari, smiling innocently and turning pale in the cheeks.

"Hey, Ry'!" she called down the hallway, "some freshman is trying to hit on me!"

Daisuke's eyes widened and his hands tightened around his backpack strap. Soon, the same senior that they bumped into earlier was in front of him, hands grabbing hold of the younger one's shirt. Daisuke's brown eyes stared directly into the other's green.

"Psst!" Hikari whispered to Daisuke, "Taichi said _not_ to look at _any_ senior for more than five seconds…"

"I… can't… help it," he whimpered, "he's got a vein on his forehead and it's beginning to throb…"

Two minutes later, the senior and his girlfriend walked away from the scene and Takeru nervously began to fiddle with Daisuke's lock. 

"What's the combination again?" he asked, talking directly to the locker.

"Twenty-five," came the answer… from within the locker. "Seventeen, thirty-nine… Hurry up, I think I'm stepping on my lunch in here…"

During first period, Hikari sat in her English class, safe and sound with other kids her age. A few of the kids looked pale and rather jumpy, but most were calm and talkative. This reassured Hikari for the thought of they were too smart to get mixed up with the legends that were floating around. Today's scare was just a coincidence. And Daisuke should have seen the senior's thoughts a mile away when he glanced at the locker. Coincidence, sheer coincidence. 

Takeru sat nervously in his classroom. It was mixed, freshmen with sophomores, and the older students didn't look all that nice. He had already found his basketball buddies and they huddled in the middle of the room. Nothing had happened yet and they were grateful. As the teacher stepped into the classroom, the students grew quiet and turned toward the front of the class. Just two seconds after the hellos, Takeru felt a disgustingly wet piece of paper smack the back of his neck. Spitballs… 

While the other two of his friends sat comfortably in desks, Daisuke had to stand out in the hallway for being a couple seconds late to get to his seat. Honestly, it wasn't his fault. Two girls began to tease him about his goggles, making his face turn bright red and also making him try to hide the blush. He backed up to get away from them and tripped over a third girl's foot. He had fallen just as the bell had rung.

So here he was, thirty minutes into his first day as a freshman and he had to stand out in the hall. Several people had already walked by, including a few of his friends of his own grade. They didn't say anything unlike the others. But he learned to get over it. It was only the first day of school. Things will get better. Right?

"Hey, Freshman."

Daisuke snapped his head to the left and caught a glimpse of the other high school students. He automatically began to pretend he didn't hear and lowered his sight to his shoes. _Be sure to bring extra pairs of shoes,_ he remembered Jun's words of caution. Blinking at the other four feet that came into vision, he raised his head and met the strangers.

"Hi," he said, trying to play it cool. 

"Hi," one of them said and smirked. "We want to take your shoes. Is that okay with you?"

Daisuke gulped and said replied, "Well uh, my mom would appreciate it if I got them back at the end of the day… or… or you know, whenever you're done with 'em."

"Don't worry. If you find them, you can keep them."

Daisuke began to remove his left shoe, but then realized he was giving up too easily. He wasn't like that… "Teacher!" he shrieked. The two others spun around and saw nothing. Turning back towards the boy, they realized he had lied to escape. Well, he never said he was a cheat.

"They're not going to get my shoes, they're not going to get my shoes," he muttered to himself while dashing up the stairs. Once at the top, he froze and glanced down, waiting for the two bullies to arrive. Only, they didn't. Baffled, he began to make his way downstairs with a cocky little smirk across his lips.

"Oh yeah, we are going to get your shoes."

Daisuke froze as he turned the corner. How could he be so stupid as to fall for a trick like that? As the two brutes lifted him up, he mentally kicked himself for his carelessness. Only thirty minutes into his first day as a freshmen… and he lost his shoes.

"Wow, Daisuke…" Hikari stared at her friend's feet. "What happened to your shoes?"

He straightened his red shirt and dusted off his sleeves as if to point the yellow words "FEAR" out to the girl. Then dusting off his white socks, he looked back at her and said, "Pardon me? I didn't quite hear you because I'm still trying to get rid of the sound of _flushing toilets _from my _aching head_."

"High school sucks. High school really sucks. I want to go home. Where's a telephone?" Takeru walked to his friends, plucking off little wet spitballs from his clothes. "This is sick. High school is sick. What kind of creatures are these people? This is sick. This is just sick and wrong."

Hikari gave a sympathetic look to each of her friends and leaned against her locker, her hands picking off a piece of lint from her khaki colored skirt. "I'd have to say it's been an okay beginning. I saw Miyako and she waved to me. But she told me she couldn't talk because… well, she didn't say why."

"Because she doesn't want to be seen with lousy freshmen," Daisuke grumbled and stubbornly, leaning against his own locker.

"Oh, come on!" she glared, "Miyako wouldn't do something like that."

"Did you think Yamato would abandon us?" Takeru questioned.

"No, but --"

"Then Miyako's staying away from us." 

The three friends exchanged disappointed glances before heading towards their next class. On their way, they curiously stopped to examine what they called a Project H&H situation. A senior would approach a weary freshmen with a polite handshake. The senior would then push the other against a locker or nearby wall and draw a nice, big red heart either on his or her face, arms, or shirt with another person's lipstick. Thus, H&H, handshakes and hearts, was born.

Physical Education. A few of the most horrifying words known to the freshmen status. Dodge ball. _The_ most appalling two words to any student above the fifth grade level. With the two mixed together, it was as if hell had personally taken the trip up to Odaiba High School to give the freshmen nightmares within the fifty-minute class. 

Large and tall jocks chased the small and short newcomers around the gymnasium floor. Several have already received presents inside of their shorts and every other freshmen new and gave a look of sympathy. Daisuke and Takeru unwillingly watched one of their classmates' face as the cold whip cream was injected into his uniform school shorts. They also heard the shrill cry of another and watched him as he slowly waddled out of the locker room, frantically trying to pull down his shorts.

Hikari had also seen a few of the girls tease another for fun. And it was complete chaos within the locker room. A few girls' blouses were tossed into the showers while some stuck their feet into their shoes and felt the warm goop of hair mouse. She tried to keep herself away from everyone, but her luck had to run out sometime. 

"Can I borrow your gym shoes?" one girl had asked.

Without looking, Hikari rejected her and said that she needed to finish organizing her locker. They didn't need PE shoes that day after all. As she finished her sentence, she realized she had just made a mistake. Quick witted, she slammed her locker shut with her items safely within. Unfortunately, the other girl came prepared with an egg held lightly in her hand. 

"Fine," she surrendered, "get it over with."

And that was how she arrived in the gym with egg tangled in with her beautiful locks of hair. 

"Have mercy!" Daisuke shrieked while running past his two other friends. Because he had no shoes, he slid wildly along the floor, falling and getting hit directly on his back. After the first few tumbles, he learned to tuck and roll. This became the Freshman Defense. 

Tucked into the corner, Hikari clung to her blonde friend's legs. She sat with her eyes peeking around his shins as he stood casually, trying to keep his cool. 

"Hikari," he whispered, faking a smile to the other freshmen around them. He heard another student fall to the ground to use the Freshman Defense position. "I'm losing the feeling in my left leg," he finished.

"Why mixed classes?" was all she could say. "Why do we have to have mixed classes?"

"In the corner!" a sophomore yelled, pointing towards Takeru's head. "They're trying to let everyone else get pounded!"

"Hikari," Takeru whispered a little bit louder, "now would be a good time to --" He was interrupted by a red rubber ball pounding against the wall behind him. He gulped and glanced nervously at the other three balls waiting to be thrown. 

"Takeru," his friend began to tug on his blue jeans. "Takeru, they're not leaving."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, "so why don't you just let go… and we can run?"

"Because," she clung a bit tighter, "I can't let go."

"…Oh great…" 

"I'm really sorry about that, Takeru…" Hikari dug the to of her shoe into the carpet and twirled her dripping wet hair. For a farewell, a junior "accidentally" pushed her into a running shower. 

"No big deal," Takeru said, trying to fix his flat hair. He, too, was pushed into a shower and his hair gel was smeared along the walls. 

"I feel so shoe-less," whined Daisuke, his eyes casting themselves onto his feet. 

A loud scream was heard down the hall and like clockwork, the three piled into a line with Daisuke in front and his goggles over his eyes. As they settled with their hands over their heads, a few teenagers ran past the halls spraying silly string and tossing water balloons at all the proclaimed freshmen. When it quieted down, they broke from their stance and began to chatter as if nothing had gone on. 

"Hey, well, I'll see you guys at lunch," Takeru waved, his right hand twirling his "back-up" hair gel container casually. 

"He's obsessive of his hair, isn't he?" questioned Daisuke after he left.

Answered the girl, "I suppose. He's starting to be like Yamato every day. Come on, let's go get to class."

Later that afternoon, the trio gathered in the lunch room with their sack lunches. It was decided that they were to sit at the furthest table from the door and on the ends of the table. For minutes they had a calm discussion, but by mid period, it happened. Buckets and buckets of different liquids, water, milk, pop, and a mixture of anything runny, began to drop onto the heads of the freshmen. Like a wave it tumbled, table after table, student after student, cry after cry after cry. 

Taichi, who was sitting with Yamato, Koushiro and Sora, glanced at the other side of the room. "Huh, they get more creative every year. What is that… milk?"

"I'm wondering what that green junk is." Sora shrugged and began to eat the warm lunch that the cafeteria was serving.

Koushiro picked at the pizza-like meal and suggested, "Whatever it is, it has to be better than this."

"Be thankful you're not a freshman again," the blonde teenager remarked, watching a young girl hold up her slice of pizza with clumps of yogurt on top of it. 

"Where's Hikari?" the Yagami craned his neck, squinting down the large cafeteria. He spotted a blonde and two brunettes ducking under the table with their hands over their eyes.

Yamato spotted them, too, and said, "Oh, hey… They're smarter than us, Taichi."

"You fell for that?" Sora went wide-eyed. "Oh my gosh! That is like… Oh, geez, Yamato, Taichi. You should've known better."

"Whatever," they both remarked, glancing back at their siblings and Daisuke. 

"Think they'll try to get us back?" Yamato asked.

Taichi shrugged, "Who knows with them?"

Meanwhile, underneath the table, Hikari watched as the green substance ran off the surface of the table above them and winced as she saw a fellow freshman tumble to the ground and landing in his lunch. She turned to Takeru, who was sheltering his hair in every way, and quickly moved onto Daisuke who seemed less worried about his hair.

"Daisuke?" she called above the noise, even though he was just a foot away.

"Yeah?" he replied, adjusting his goggles over his eyes.

"I think I want payback."

During the passing period of fourth to fifth, Hikari and Takeru walked down the freshmen hallway, planning to head to the locker halls where the Freshmen Passage lead to the large circular space. It was the center of the building and it was what connected the four different hallways. There was the school mascot painted in the direct middle of the circle. This room was called the Odaiba High Memorial. Awards were placed here every year to commemorate good memories. Right now, it was empty.

"I told Daisuke that I want revenge and I want it today! Look at my hair! And my skirt! And my hair!" Hikari took a lock of her hair and pulled it in front of her eyes. Over the hours, its fresh and glossy look turned dirty and dull. 

Takeru, hair still well supplied with gel, responded, "I want to get them back, too. We can't let them walk all over us, you know."

"Where is Daisuke? I mean… we haven't seen him since lunch."

"Well," he shrugged, "he did have math class, so maybe he's getting scolded for something."

They began to pass a suspiciously open closet and she reached her left arm out to stop her friend. "Perhaps."

"You think they'd be a little bit less conspicuous."

Daisuke strolled out of the closet with an unopened bag of water balloons and walked in the middle of the clearing hallway. Raising the balloons up, he said aloud, "Freshmen! Are you tired of being picked on by the big, bad seniors, juniors and sophomores?" 

There was no motion whatsoever in the hallway and all eyes were focused on the boy.

"Well then!" he smirked, pulling out another bag of water balloons from his pockets. "Who believes it is time for a little freshmen rebellion? How about the sophomores get a little taste of humiliation again? Or perhaps the seniors can lose their own shoes? Maybe the juniors can quench their thirst with some toilet water?"

Hikari's eyes widened, "Daisuke! What do you think you're doing?"

He turned around and smirked cockily again. "You asked for rebellion."

The bell sounded and like cockroaches exposed to light, the freshmen dispersed from the circle around Daisuke and hurried to class. Remaining were the trio, two of them glancing at their friend as if he were insane, the third juggling the two bags of balloons with one hand. 

"Where'd you get those?" she questioned.

"They wouldn't keep them in the freshmen hallway." Takeru arched an eyebrow.

Daisuke gestured to the closet, "I got pissed off at a senior."

The other two's eyes nearly fell from their place. "You didn't!"

"There's NO WAY that you could've gotten a _senior_," Takeru blurted.

"Not without help."

Hikari and the Takaishi jerked their heads to the closet and watched as Sora stepped into the light and casually leaned against the doorframe. In her hands were more bags of water balloons and in her bag, she carried a hefty amount of whip cream.

"You were going to _use_ that on _us_?" questioned the other girl. 

Sora blinked a bit in surprise. "Hikari, Hikari… I couldn't find it in my heart to let you guys suffer the way we did. And since your brother refused in thoughts of being caught, I was the only one who could help."

"Sora!" she nearly gushed, "you are the absolute best!"

The two girls gave a quick hug before Sora dropped the bag and balloons. "I have to get to class," she said, "if you have a core class, say you were in the office getting your schedule changed. If you have an elective, wet your hair a little bit and the teacher will understand." She gave one last look at her friends, "And don't get used to wearing casual clothes. Uniforms start next Monday."

"Thanks, Sora!" Takeru gave a thumbs-up and snatched the items up. "C'mon, let's go fill some up."

During the fifth period, the three young teenagers began to spread the word of rebellion to their classmates. The people who were to be included in this act were to meet in the freshmen bathroom to help fill the balloons. Designated people were told to keep the filled balloons in their locker and others were told to begin planning the traps that were to be set in the Odaiba High Memorial. 

Some were ordered to fetch the buckets from inside of the cafeteria and most were told to keep look out and whenever an older student approaches, don't act too cocky or they would think something is being planned. 

After the fifth to sixth period passing time, Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari gathered the remaining items, which wasn't much. They sneakily asked to be excused from their class to "speak to a counselor," "get a schedule change," and "check in with the school nurse." At the freshmen bathrooms they met.

"Got the combinations?" Daisuke asked, his voice in a hushed whisper.

Takeru held up a list of numbers and names. "Got 'em."

"What about the string, Hikari?"

She pulled open her binder and began to pull out a mess of yarn and other such strings that she retrieved from her peers. "It's all here… somewhere."

"Remember to leave five balloons in each locker, Daisuke," Takeru instructed, "Hikari and I will take care of the Odaiba High Memorial."

"Right," he nodded and snatched the piece of paper from the blonde. 

Splitting up, Takeru and Hikari walked one way and Daisuke the other. They had only a matter of minutes to make their mark in their high school history. What a way to start the school year. That is, if they pulled it off.

The plan was to get the three different sections of the high school at once. It was always after sixth period that was the worse… or so they heard. After sixth, it was time to go home. And making the last impression on the newcomers was a must. No freshmen went untouched… until now. 

Daisuke had gotten as far as luring the students to the freshmen early in the game before the other doors were guarded. The idea of buckets above the hallways were Hikari's idea and Takeru suggested that they poured some water in various placed so they would slip. Whip cream was already shaken and ready to be shot out and extra water balloons were hidden in trashcans and in the corners of the hallways.

A friend of Daisuke's, also a teammate on his soccer team, interrupted the work the brunette was in, minutes before the bell would ring.

"Daisuke," he murmured, watching him work his mind out of his skull. "We kind of…"

"Kind of what?" he asked, stopping as he carefully placed the balloons in the trashcan. 

"We kind of uh, decided not to tick the higher authority off…"

"…What?"

The teammate scratched the back of his neck nervously and shrugged. "Well uh, in case it didn't work, we didn't want to get pounded into oblivion. Some people want to help."

"Like who?" Daisuke raised his voice.

"Uh, no one that I know of, but hey! We helped you prepare, you've got to admit that we did that!"

The brunette sighed, rubbing his temples to think of what to do. "I could always deal with it… Maybe Hikari and Takeru are still up for it," he murmured to himself, "if anyone does show up, they'll help… The rest will be thrown into trashcans anyway…"

"Uh --"

"Tell you what," he smirked, "you help me with one last thing, and I won't purposely hit you in the head with the soccer ball during practice, okay?"

"F-fine."

"So, everyone backed out on us. It's just you, me and Takeru," the Motomiya huffed as he ran into the Odaiba High Memorial. The two friends blinked wildly in disbelief. 

"Just us three? Against the mob of them?" Takeru asked.

"Yeah. But we can do this. It'll be a snap and a half." Daisuke began to explain that after the Memorial Hall was taken care of, they would escape to the hall and use what water balloons they could find. He also stated that after things got worse, there was always the option of returning to the Memorial Hall and running down one of the hallways considering the other freshmen doors would be guarded by others. Once, or if, they make it outside, they would be safe considering the fact that all the other freshmen would have already been out there to be tossed into the grass or in garbage cans.

It was just a matter of how they played the game.

"Three, two," Takeru counted down from the clock on the wall, "one…"

The school bell rang, allowing the students to be let out from school. Seconds began to tick by and students began to spill out of the classrooms. Daisuke stared down the senior hallway, watching several people begin to march their way to the center. Takeru kept his eye on the junior hallway, counting the many who had began to fill their hands with lipstick, toilet paper, and silly string. Hikari stared into the sophomore corridor, listening to the caps of whip cream pop off and the sound of evil laughter spread the air. 

"Well," Daisuke grinned, his hands gripping onto the strings that were attached to the many buckets. "This is it."

"Hikari, if someone's coming after you, just tell me and I'll be there," Takeru instructed, watching as the juniors made their way to the center.

"Thanks, Takeru…" she whispered, her hands wrapping around the string multiple times.

Daisuke rolled his eyes, "Come on! This is war! Not some love crap!"

At last, the first senior stepped into the Memorial Hall and pointed towards the three that were gathered in the middle. "Freshmen!"

The teenager's voice echoed through the halls and in the same second, all hell broke loose. Juniors were in a mad dash to get to the Memorial Hall and sophomores grew louder each second. Daisuke pulled the first string as the first balloon was thrown. His shoeless feet were soaked in the cold water and he pulled the second to nail the senior girls who had popped up behind the first. 

Hikari and Takeru did their share off rebellion before they were all out of string. Those who were greeted with the buckets of water stood stunned, frozen from the cold… or surprised. The students behind them began to grow furious because they had yet to throw the balloons. For one split second, Daisuke could have sworn that he heard his own heart beat against his chest. For the next, the students broke from their trance and dashed angrily towards the three.

"Next move!" Daisuke called, a wide smile of excitement spreading across his face.

The three ran from their spot and Daisuke was the first to scoop up the first balloon. Takeru turned to hand Hikari a balloon, but she wasn't behind him. His blue eyes trailed to the center of the room where the girl stood, struggling to get the string off from her fingers. Without hesitation, he ran back to Hikari and helped her to become untangled.

"Hey, Takeru!" Daisuke turned around to talk to the blonde. Glancing back at the Odaiba High Memorial, he dropped his arms to his sides and muttered a "Come on…"

He jogged back into the hall and tossed the balloons at the nearing students to help his friends. After being pelted six times with water balloons, Hikari was free and they returned to their hallway to reload their arms with the balloons. One by one they threw the balloons, hitting the seniors and several people behind them. 

The struggle between the groups lasted for only a few minutes. Other freshmen had stayed behind to watch but fled when the three 'warriors' fell to the ground, tired and wet. Most of the larger group had left to get the rest of the freshmen but a large portion stayed around to teach the rebels a lesson. But nowhere in the mess of water balloons and silly string had the three seen any of their older friends. 

"I'd say we put up a good fight," Daisuke said in between deep breaths. "But I guess it's time to be like every other freshmen and get pounded."

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," apologized Hikari in a mousy voice. 

"Don't say that," Takeru replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We all fell a couple times. It was fun."

"Come on!" Daisuke whined, shifting himself from leaning against his two friends to sitting up on his own. "Can you guys just get this all over with?" he asked to the larger group.

One of the seniors questioned, "This was all your idea? Getting back at us? Just you three?"

"Pretty much," they mumbled, feeling no need to deny.

"Just you three?"

"Yeah…"

There was a period of silence before the senior grabbed a hold of Daisuke and pulled him to his feet. "You've got guts."

"And a heart and a mind and a lunch detention for math," he remarked.

"Smart ass," the other chuckled. "You know what?"

Takeru and Hikari perked their heads up. "What?"

"You're the first people who decided to get back at us… That takes a lot of guts. And showing bravery against us, three to… what -- twenty? That's pretty cool for a bunch of freshmen."

"So… you're not going to throw us into trashcans and stuff?" Daisuke asked.

"Nah."

The three simultaneously sighed in relief. 

"But we're going to toss you in your lockers. You know… can't let anyone off the hook. So which one's yours?"

"Okay, after I finish the first line, you start… and then when he finishes the first line, you start. 'Kay?" Daisuke asked, crammed into his locker.

"'Kay," the other two replied, also from their locker. 

"Row, row, row your boat," Daisuke began. He listened to Takeru's echo, and then Hikari's, as they sang the song from inside of their lockers. It had been ten minutes since they were pushed into the metal bin and they were already declared "cool enough" to sit outside of the freshmen tables. 

"Life is but a dream," Hikari finished after the third repetition. 

"Anyone alive in there!" Taichi's voice called with Yamato in the background, chuckling. 

"Taichi!" all three called out in joy. "Are we glad to see you!"

Second later, the three freshmen fell out of their lockers and set their eyes on Taichi, Yamato, Koushiro, Sora, and Miyako. With a quick fill-in on how their rebel actions paid off, the older kids congratulated the three younger ones and confessed that they didn't know if they had it in them.

"So who was to thank? Huh? Huh?" Sora smirked, nudging Taichi in the gut.

"Yeah, yeah," Taichi shrugged. "C'mon, 'Kari… Let's go home."

"Yeah, Squirt." Yamato wrapped his arm around his younger brother and rubbed his knuckles against his head. "Let's go buy you some new gel."

Takeru smirked and waved to Hikari, "See ya, 'Kari. Bye, Daisuke."

"Bye, Takeru," she replied and began to walk the other way with her brother right beside her.

"So," Daisuke glanced at Sora and Miyako, "can I escort the ladies home?"

"Wha--" Koushiro blinked, standing by himself in the corridor. "What about me? Hello? Anyone?"

Hikari poked her head out from around the corner and waved him to follow. "You don't have to always wait for an invitation, you know."

"Hey, be nice to your elders," he replied as he jogged to his best friends. 

"Hey," Taichi smirked, proudly hanging his arm around Hikari. "Be nice to her. She has people in high places nowadays."

"Yeah," she agreed, smiling widely. Her smile faded as she looked down at her skirt. "Ugh, but I am NEVER going to get these stains out!"

The end

:: sweatdrops :: Tada! … Um… Tada? Well, anyway… This was meant to get out earlier, but the first draft was even sloppier than this. My say on why it is written so sloppy: this is just supposed to be a funny story to read through. It's not meant to be dissected into little bits to say what was wrong and what could have been better… But I guess people will do that anyway. Oh well, what ever tickles your fancy. ^-^


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